Can Jaylin Williams Crack the Thunder’s Rotation?
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The Oklahoma City Thunder drafted four players in the 2022 NBA draft and three of those draftees came within the lottery. The one player, though, that wasn’t drafted in the lottery was Jaylin Williams, who was an early second round pick at pick no. 34.
Since Chet Holmgren’s injury that will hold him out for the season, the center position has been a question mark for the Thunder. Williams could be a partial answer to the Thunder’s shortcomings at the big-man position, but at what cost?
With the Thunder experimenting with a multitude of lineups, Aleksej Pokusevski, Darius Bazley, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Mike Muscala are three players that have had to take on the challenge of playing the center position. For the general development of Poku, playing in his natural position that he’ll see next year may be the right move, and Williams being in the rotation and playing the center could benefit that.
Realistically, the Thunder could hold a center rotation between both Robinson-Earl and Williams as the two explore their potential at the young parts of their career. With Robinson-Earl’s skillset, he should be able to tack on minutes alongside Holmgren when he makes his NBA debut, but Williams doesn't quite make sense along Holmgren, so the Thunder could get the opportunity to see if Williams could provide small bursts of backup minutes behind Holmgren in the future.
He’s a solid body that would help this season, and his size in general will help the team that is currently rolling out on the floor. His ability to run the pick-and-roll and pass out of the low-post could help, too.
In Williams' most recent G League game with the Oklahoma City Blue, Williams logged 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting with 11 rebounds and four assists.
Muscala would likely be the player seeing a minutes hit, but it may be more important to find out whether or not the 6-foot-9 big man can provide a real impact on this season, and carve out a role moving forward.
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